Harley Potter and The Sorcerers Stone

The Girl Who Lived

A Chat With Dumbledore

Chapter Eighteen

June 6th

The hospital wing was silent. Not a soul was in sight besides young Harley Potter who had been lying unconscious on the white sterile bed. It had been five days since Harley had, had the encounter with Quirrell and Voldemort down in the chamber after fighting him off to get a hold of the Sorcerers Stone before Quirrell did. She had endured quiet a lot to stop it all. From saving her friend from getting hurt by the troll, while Harley herself was willing to. For a girl of such a young age, she had endured more than an adult usually did. It was a shame, really, that a girl like her got such a bad hand in life. That was what it was, life. Life was never easy, but it didn't mean it should be cruel and harsh to the eleven year old.

Albus Dumbledore sat silently beside her bedside. He watched as the eleven year old, soon to be twelve in two months, slept peacefully. She had begun to stir a day before, but had yet to actually wake up. Dark bruises had covered her stomach where she had been hit by the trolls club. The bruises were now light pales of yellows, green and purples as the potion Madam Pomfrey gave her began to heal the marks. It had taken some time for Harley to finally have her bruises disappear and have her ribs healed from the attack. Her pale skin was an unusual white color, from lack of sunlight. Madam Pomfrey had been doing her job well. Albus watched as the young girl begin to stir again, arising from her deep slumber.

Harley's eyes fluttered opened as she looked around blearily. The warmth of the sunlight glared through the windows above the hospital beds, leaving the room warm. She noticed a pair of golden snitches. She raised her hand and rubbed her eyes slowly. Her eyesight cleared and she noticed Professor Dumbledore looking down at her. "Professor – the Stone – Quirrell he was –" Dumbledore raised his hand and smiled calmly at the girl.

"It's alright Harley. Quirrell does not have the stone." Albus replied to the frazzled young girl.

"Then who does, sir I –" She began to say.

"No one does Harley." Albus stated. Harley looked around the room to notice she was in the hospital wing. Her gaze landed on the nightstand beside her that was stacked and overflowing with candy from the candy shop. It seemed like it was half the store. "Tokens, from your friends and admirers." Dumbledore stated, beaming. He had seen her gaze looking at the candy. "What happened down in the dungeon between you and Quirrell is a secret, so naturally, everyone in the whole school knows. I believe your friends; Fred and George Weasley tried to send you a toilet seat. Thought it might amuse you. But Madam Pomfrey thought it was not very hygienic."

Harley ignored what he said and decided to give the question she wanted to know. "How long have I been in here, sir?" She questioned, positioning herself into a sitting position.

"Five days. Mr. Weasley and Mr. Granger will be thrilled and relieved to know you're awake." Dumbledore nodded his head as he looked at Harley with his bright blue eyes.

"But sir, the stone –" Harley began. She was not going to let him try and distract her from what she wanted to know.

"It seems you are not to be distracted. Very well we will talk about the stone. Professor Quirrell was not able to take it from you. I arrived in time to be able to prevent that. Although, you did very well on your own I must say." Dumbledore complimented her.

"You got Hermione's owl then?" Harley questioned.

"We must have crossed in midair. No sooner had I got to London did I realize that where I was meant to be, I had just left from. I arrived in time to pull Quirrell off of you –" He was cut off by Harley who looked up at him with more awareness than a girl who had just awaken from a five day sleep should.

"It was you. That saved me." She stated, more than asked.

"I feared I was too late." Albus sighed as he folded his hands in his lap as he looked at Harley.

"You nearly were. I wouldn't have been able to hold him off much longer from the Stone –" Harley began.

"Not the stone dear girl. You, the effort involved nearly killed you. For one terrible moment there, I thought it had. As for the stone if had been destroyed." Dumbledore stated. Harley was shocked at the news.

"Destroyed?" She questioned blankly. She did all that for almost nothing. Of course, she did stop Voldemort from acquiring the stone, which out did anything else. "But what about your friend, Nicholas Flamel?" Harley questioned curiously.

"Oh, you know about Nicholas?" Dumbledore sounded quite delighted. "You did do the thing properly, didn't you? Well, Nicholas and I had a little chat and agreed it was for the best." He nodded his head and looked to Harley again.

"But that means he and his wife will die, won't they?" Harley questioned curiously.

"They have enough Elixir in store for them to sort out their affairs." Dumbledore smiled at the look of amazement on Harley's face. "To one such as young as yourself, I'm sure it is incredible, but for Nicholas and Perenelle, it is like going to bed after a very, very long day. After all, to the most well organized mind, death is but the next big adventure. You know, the Stone was not really such a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you want! The two things most human beings would choose above all else." Dumbledore hummed a little to himself as he stared up at the ceiling. Harley lay back in her pillow with astonishment.

"Sir -" Harley began. "I was thinking with Vol- I mean You-Know-Who –"

"Call him Voldemort, Harley. Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear in itself." Dumbledore replied calmly.

"I mean Voldemort's not gone. Isn't he?" She asked with a furrow of her eyebrows. "He's going to try other ways of coming back." Harley stated to the Headmaster. Already knowing what he was going to say before he said.

"Yes, Harley, he is not. He may try to find another body to share. He left Quirrell for dead. He shows as little mercy to his followers as his enemies." Dumbledore mentioned. "For he may always be delayed from power should someone always fight him? He may never come into power."

Harley nodded her head slowly. It made her head hurt but she ignored the pain for the moment. She raised her hand and rubbed her head slowly. "Sir, I have a few questions, if you can tell me truth about." Harley said, looking at her Headmaster.

"The truth" Dumbledore sighed. "It's a beautiful but terrible thing, it should there for be treated with great caution." Dumbledore looked to Harley with serious baby blue eyes. "I shall however answer your questions unless I have a very good reason not to. I beg of you to forgive me, for I will not lie." The Headmaster said slowly.

"Well, Voldemort said he didn't need to kill my mother because she was trying to protect me, to stop him from killing me. But why would he want to kill me in the first place?" She questioned. Her foggy memory was still having a hard time bringing up most of what she remembered from her five day sleep as well as what happened five days ago.

Dumbledore sighed and frowned as he looked at Harley. "Alas. The first question you ask me is something I cannot tell you. Not now. You will know one day, Harley. But for now, put it out of your mind. I know you hate to hear this, but when you're ready, you will know." He was right, she did hate hearing adults say that. She sighed and decided to ask her next question.

"Why couldn't Quirrell touch me then?" She asked.

"Because you're mother died to save you Harley. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot truly understand, it is love. He didn't realize that love as powerful as your mothers could leave its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign. To be loved so deeply, even though the person is gone, will give us some protection forever. It is in your very skin. Quirrell, who was so full of ambition, greed and hatred, sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not touch you for this reason. It was agony to be touched by someone touched by such good." Harley's eyes sight blurred at Professor Dumbledore's words. Dumbledore looked out the window as the bird on the window ceil, giving her a moment. She wiped her watery emerald green eyes with the blanket before taking a deep calming breath.

"Do you know who gave me the Invisibility Cloak?" She questioned after gathering herself.

"Ah yes. Your father left that in my possession." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled with joy. "I thought you might like it. It's a useful thing. Of course, your father used it to sneak off to the kitchen when he was hungry, during his school days." Dumbledore replied with a small smile on his face.

"There are a few other questions I have." Harley replied to the Headmaster as she adjusted herself slowly on the white comfortable bed. It felt nice to have someone so soft and soothing against her back.

"Fire away." Dumbledore replied.

"Snape and Quirrell."

"Professor Snape, Harley." Dumbledore restated with a stern look.

"Yes, him." She said offhand, giving a small careless wave of her hand. "Quirrell said that Snape hated my father." She replied.

"Yes, they had a mutual dislike, much like Mr. Malfoy and yourself do." Dumbledore stated with a nod of his head. "Your father did something that Snape could never forgive." He said calmly with a thoughtful look.

"What?" Harley questioned.

"Your father saved his life." Harley's eyes widened at the news. Her father saved Snape, even though they hated each other? That made no sense, not to her anyways. Then again, Harley supposed she'd save Malfoy if the time came to, even if she did dislike the Slytherin git. "Snape couldn't stand to be in debt to your father. So, I believe he saved you so he could go back to hating your father." Dumbledore replied to her look.

"What about how I got the stone out of the mirror?" Harley questioned finally after finally overcoming her shock at the news of her father saving his enemy.

"That is one of my best ideas, between you and I, that's saying something. The ones that want to find it find it but not use it. Now those that just want to use it, see themselves only making gold or seeing them drinking the Elixir. Even my mind surprises me sometimes." Dumbledore stated with a cheerful grin on his aging face.

"Sir, do you know who sent me that box full of my parents things?" She questioned curiously. She figured that the Headmaster would know. After all, he knew everything else that went on around Hogwarts. Then he should know about who sent her that box full of her parent's old memories.

"That, I'm afraid Harley, I do not know as well." Sighed Dumbledore with a small smile.

"What about you allowing me to stay in the boys dorm room?" She questioned with a raise an eyebrow.

"Ah yes, I was wondering when you where doing to ask me about that." Albus replied as he leaned back comfortably in his chair. "I was hoping you would become closer to those you were already friends with. Assuming, you didn't want to room with the girls. I was in fact correct?" Dumbledore questioned her. Harley nodded her head slowly.

"And I have one more question sir. What am I going to do about my living situation?" She questioned the older man. "Am I going to remain at the Orphanage, or am I going to live with one of the families that wanted to adopt me?" Harley inquired to her Headmaster, before looking down at her bedding.

"I have decided you should remain at Buckingham's Boarding House, until we find out who placed you there." Dumbledore paused as he looked at the girls reaction, it was one expected. Harley's face showed disappointment and then quickly was replaced by anger and annoyance. Before she could speak, Dumbledore continued to speak. "If, and only if, we find out who it was and the Ministry and myself find a suitable family for you to be placed with, you are to remain with Buckingham Orphanage." Harley crossed her arms over her chest, a foul look on her face as she glared in front of herself.

"I understand sir." Harley stated through gritted teeth. Her usually bright, electric, emerald green eyes were darker, to a forest green color, showing the anger she felt. Albus gave a sigh as he slowly stood from his spot on the chair and looked down at Harley. A frown graced his aging features as her noticed the angry look on her face. With a light tap against her shoulder he turned on his heel and made his way out of the Hospital Wing.

Harley watched her Professor leave with a distrusting glint in her eyes. She trusted her Headmaster at times, but she didn't at other times. Why should she trust a man that won't tell her the truth about anything? That keeps giving her the same bullshit answer every other adult has. This is what she hated about adults. They automatically assumed that you weren't ready yet or you're too young to deal with such news. Teeth grinded together as she remained with her arms crossed over her chest, a foul look on her face. She would find her own answers if she had to. She didn't care, as long as she found the answers she was searching for, if she got into trouble. With a nod of her head Harley leaned back into the comfortable pillow and fell into a dreamless sleep.

I feel a bit stupid at the moment. I forgot to post this chapter last night. I wondered why it felt so unfinished.

Anyways, here's the chapter I wanted to post last night but forgot to.

Lets see, since I'm finished with this story, as soon as I repost my other chapter, I'll be quick to work on second year.

I'm still working on my other stories don't worry. I just, kind of lost my train of thought for the other ones.

I'm very forgetful at times. Like poor Neville can be.

R&R please, like usual. :)

Your Writer,

TheWeepingRaven